This week’s “Rumors & Rumblings” are coming to you a day late because we were digging around for a little more info on a couple of rumors. Have a tip? Send it here.
1. The Mobile Bay area is buzzing with the idea of Republican State Representative Randy Davis running for Mayor of Daphne. Davis is currently serving his third term in the Alabama House of Representatives but many Daphne residents are hoping he will take a shot at the Mayor’s office.
Longtime city councilman Bailey Yelding was selected by the Daphne city council in Oct. 2011 to finish out the term of Mayor Fred Small who resigned in a surprise move last year. City Councilmen Derek Boulware and John Lake are also seeking the seat and current Mayor Bailey Yelding says he is considering running as the incumbent even though he said when he was selected last year that he would not run. Municipal elections are August 28 but candidate filing deadlines are still over a month away.
2. Rumors have been flying around for months that a Republican governmental affairs firm was working behind the scenes with the AEA to kill the GOP’s charter schools legislation. This week the rumors reached a boiling point as multiple GOP Senators began connecting the dots from the firm to the teachers union. One insider summed up the feelings of many of the legislators and staffers involved when he said, “Pick a side. I don’t care which one. But it can’t be both.”
3. Many insiders believe Democrat State Representative Richard Lindsey will be elected the next ALFA President when Jerry Newby steps down from the post in December. Lindsay has been a member of the House since 1983. While Lindsey is the odds-on favorite against four other candidates, some insiders remain surprised that ALFA isn’t angling toward a President with closer ties to the new Republican leadership.

How the hell did you get the Randy Davis nugget from down in south Alabama? Well played, mr. yellowhammer.
Thanks. that one came in from a source on the ground in Baldwin County.
PSA, PSA, PSA.
There is not doubt. It seems that they will go in any direction for a little bit of $$.
Shameful.
Bottom feeders gonna feed.
1. If I’m Rep. Davis I go for it. Nothing to lose not being an election year in the House. That is if he woud prefer the Mayor job.
2. Yellowhammer will you name names on this please? Just like we need to know who is on our side in the legislature, we need to know what influencers are really working for us as well.
3. Why would any organization hire an old guard Democrat to influence new guard Republicans? I want a strong lobbying effort for the farmers that are the backbone of Alabama!
I’d definitely agree with Hippo. PSA was the first that came to mind when I read this. Their people got very dismissive or changed the subject every time myself or someone else would rant to them about the AEA’s anti-charter tactics.
#2 has got to be Public Strategy Associates. Somebody should ask them why they’re in bed with the trial lawyers too.